Calf-weaner.



No. 66|,9l2. Patented Nov. I3, 1900. W. B. HART.

CALF WEANEIL (Appiication filed June 18, 1900.

(No Model.)

Unites STATES PATENT WALTER B. HART, OF DUNCAN, INDIAN TERRITORY.

CALF-WEANER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 661,912, dated November 13, 1900.

Application filed June 18, 1900. Serial No. 20,753. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTERB. HART, a citizen of the United States, residing at Duncan, in the Chickasaw Nation, Indian Territory, have invented a new and useful Calf- Weaner, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to calf-weaners, and has for its object to provide an improved device of this character which may be conveniently snapped upon the cartilage of the nostrils of a calf and having means forautomatically locking the device after it has been applied, so as to prevent accidental displacement thereof and at the same time permitting of the device being conveniently unlocked and removed by an attendant. It is furthermore designed to arrange the device so as to drop down across the mouth of the calf when he raises his head, seas to prevent him from milkinghis mother,and which will swing away from the mouth of the animal, and thus permit him to graze in the usual manner.

With these and other objects in View the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter more fully described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and-particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a calf-weanerconstructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a central longitudinal sectional view thereof. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the device, showing the position of the members in applying the device to a calf.

Corresponding parts are designated by like characters of reference in all of the figures of the drawings.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 1 and 2 designate the opposite substantially duplicate members of the device, each of which is formed from a single sheet-metal plate having its outer edge bent into a 1ongitudinally-disposed stiffening-flange 3, the upper edge of which is rounded into the plate, as indicated at 4. The inner edges of these l plates are-overlapped and hingedly connected by means of a suitable pivot 5, located adjacent to the upperends of the plates, so that the latter may be swung laterally across each other upon the pivot as a center. Adjacent to the lower endof one of the plates and in the overlapped portion thereof there is provided a transversely-disposed arcuate slot 6, which is struck from the pivot 5 as a center, the outer end of the slot being provided with a downwardly-directed branch slot 7, thereby forming a substantially L-shaped or bayonet slot. The adjacent overlapped portion of the other plate is provided with a vertically-disposed slot 8, which is designed to correspond with the vertical slot of the former plate when the device is in locked position.

Projecting transversely through the vertical slot 8 is a locking pin or key 9, having its opposite ends extending at the respective sides of the plate and provided with the respective enlarged heads 10 and 11, so as to prevent the pin from being displaced endwise from the slot. This pin or key is also received within the other arcuate slot, so that the plate or member 1 may be swung laterally across the other member upon the pivot 5 as a center or fulcrum, and when the plate has reached the limit of its outward movement by reason of the outer end wall of the slot 6 engaging the pin the latter will automatically drop downwardly into the transverse branch slot 7, thereby locking both members against swinging movements upon the common pivotal connection 5.

The upper end portions of the inner edges of the plates or members are provided with corresponding transverse slots 12, which combine to form a substantially elliptical opening, as shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings. The outer ends of the upper walls of these slots terminate short of each other and are provided with rounded enlargements 13, so as to form jaws.

In the application of the device the locking pin or key is raised in the combined vertical slots of the two members until it registers with the transverse arcuate slot 6, when the two members may be separated upon the pivot 51l. e., the jaws may be separated by forcing the opposite ends of the members inwardly in opposite directions until the pin strikes the opposite end of the arcuate slot. In this position of the device the jaws are inserted in the nostrils of the calf and then they are forced together, so as to clamp upon the dividing cartilage of the nostrils, the locking pin or key dropping automatically into the combined vertical slots, so as to lock the device upon the calf. Thus the device may be conveniently applied to a calf, so that the former is swung from the nostrils of the animal, whereby the device hangs downwardly in advance of the mouth of the animal, so as to permit of grazing, but which will swing across theimouth should the calf elevate its head to milk its mother; also, the stiffeningflanges form prods for engagement with the animal, at opposite sides of the month thereof, as the flanges project rearwardly from the device, and would therefore be forced against the animal should the latter persist in an attempt to suck.

What is claimed is 1. A calf-weaner, comprising opposite pivotally or hingedly connected members, having jaws to clamp upon the nostrils of an animal, one of the members having a substantially L-shaped slot, and the other member having a pin or key slidably received within the L-shaped slot of the former member.

2. A calf-weaner, comprising opposite pivotally or hingedly connected members, having jaws to clamp upon the nostrils of an animal, one of the members having a transversely-disposed substantially L-shaped slot, and the other member having a laterally-movable locking pin or key slidably received within the L-shaped slot.

3. Acalf-weaner,comprisingapairof opposite members, which are pivotally connected at their upper ends, one of the members hav ing a transversely-disposed substantially L- shaped slot, the transverse branch of ivhich is of arcuate form and struck from the pivotal connection as a center, the other member having a vertical slot to register with the vertical branch of the L-shaped slot, and a looking pin or key slidably held Within the vertical slot and slidable in the L-shaped slot, the opposite ends of the pin or key projecting at the respective sides of the device and provided with enlarged heads to prevent endwise displacement of the pin.

4. A calf-weaner, comprising a pair of pivotally-connected plates, provided at their upper ends with nostril-engaging jaws, the outer edges of theplates being bent rearwardly into stifiening-fianges, which also form prods, and means for locking the plates against accidental separation.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in' the presence of two witnesses.

WALTER B. HART. Witnesses:

F. B. HINCKLEY, J. B. PATTERSON. 

